South Africa’s miserable World Series ended with a 19-14 defeat against Scotland in the Edinburgh Sevens Plate semi-final.

Maybe ‘Bluntboks’ would be the more suitable nickname. South Africa’s poor campaign at Murrayfield was an accurate summary of their World Series title defence – too many unforced errors and a fragile defensive system that hampered their momentum, leaving the defending champions without a single tournament triumph. The returns of experienced campaigners in London, such as Fabian Juries and the injured Renfred Dazel and Neil Powell, strengthen the squad somewhat but their comebacks were a little too late as they failed to gel with two tournaments remaining.

This was evident against the hosts Scotland, who upset the South Africans in the second tier of the last sevens tournament in Ediburgh. The Blitzboks led 14-0 in the sixth minute thanks to a Chris Dry brace, but from then on the Scots took over.

Mark Robertson opened Scotland’s score late in the first half, while two second-half tries from Mike Adamson and Ben Cairns sealed the win.

Earlier on day two in the Cup quarterfinal, Samoa beat South Africa 19-0. In the quarterfinal, the Blitzboks were unable to trouble Samoa on attack because of poor handling while Henno Mentz had a clear break but his pass was intercepted. Their Pacific Island counterparts scored soft tries by taking advantage of weak tackle attempts. Samoa surged into a 14-0 lead in the first half as Reupena Levasa and Alafoti Fa’osiliva crossed the chalk.

With a comfortable lead, Samoa took their foot off the pedal and camped in the South Africans’ half. The Blitzboks’ had their opportunities, but mistakes at crucial times cost them. Samoa managed to add one more try through Uale Mai.

In other results, Australia beat New Zealand 24-19 and Samoa edged England 15-12 in the Cup semi-finals. With final qualification and New Zealand losing against the Aussies, Samoa sealed the 2010 World Series. They carried on with their from and went on to triumph 41-14 against Australia.